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REVEREND ENOCH COFFIN. 

concord's first PREACIIKR, I726-'28. 
By JoJin C. Tlionw. 



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HE subject of this sketch 
was descended from an 
ancient and honorable 
family, and is presumed 
to be of Norman origin. 
The first of that name in England 
was Sir Richard Coffyn, Knight, 
who accompanied William the Con- 
queror on his invasion of that coun- 
try in 1066. 

Sir Richard held the rank of 
general in the army. The lands 
received by him from the king were 
upon the borders of the river Severn, 
and have descended in direct line in 
the family for upwards of seven hun- 
dred years. 

The genealogy of Concord's first 
preacher which is here given back to 
Peter Coffyn, in England, is far 
enough to answer our purpose. It is 
like this: Enoch CofTin*^ (Nathan- 
iel'', Tristram, Jr. ^, Tristram", Peter^) 
was born in Newbury, Mass., Feb- 
ruary 7, 1696. Graduated at Har- 
vard college, 1714; died August 
7, 1728. He married January 5, 
1716, Mehitable Moody. They had 
four children. All died before reach- 
ing maturit}^ His father was Hon. 
Nathaniel Coffin of Newbury, dea- 
con of the first church, and clerk of 
the town, also representative to the 
General Court three years, i7i9-'2i. 
Councillor of the Province in 1730, 
and Special Justice of the Court of 



Common Pleas for Essex county in 
1734. He had eight children. Two 
of them, the Rev. Enoch Coffin and 
Samuel B. Coffin, graduated at Har- 
vard college. He died in 1749, aged 
eighty. Upon the tombstones of 
his grandfather and grandmother in 
the "First Parish Burying Ground" 
are these inscriptions : 

To the nieniory of Tristram Coffin Esq., who 
having served the First Church of Newbury in 
the office of Deacon 20 years, died, Feb. 4, 
1703-4, aged 72 years. 

On earth he pur-clias-ed a good degree, 
Great boldness in the faith and liberty. 
And now possesses immortality. 

He was made a freeman of the 
colony April 29, 1668. Elected rep- 
resentativ^e in 1695, 1700, 1701, and 



/' 



Also, 



To the memory of Mrs. Judith, late virtuous 
wite of Deac. Tristram Coffin Esqr, who hav- 
ing lived to see 177 of her children and chil- 
dren's children to the ,^d generation, died Dec. 
15, 1705, aged 80. 

Grave, sober, faithful, fruitful vine was she, 
A rare example of true piety, « 

Widow'd awhile she wayted wisht for rest. 
With her dear husband in her Savior's brest. 

Enoch's great-grandfather, Tris- 
tram, was born in Brixham Parish, 
County of Devon, England, in 1609, 
and came to this country in 1642, on 
account, it is said, of the success of 
Oliver Cromwell, he being a firm 
Loyalist, with his mother, wife, two 
sisters, and five children. The de- 






K/-:i\ ENOCH COFFIN 





"First Parish Burying-ground," Newbury, Mass. 
Frcm History of'Oiilii .Vai'/y/ny," by /tiriiiissioii o/l/ir Author. 



scendauls of Trislrani were very 
numerous — indeed there were born 
between the years 1652 and 172S, 
1,582 children, of whom 1,128 were 
living at the latter date. 

Hon. Peter Coflfin, Es(iuire, the 
eldest son of the above, born in 1630, 
was a prominent man in tho.se days, 
— he was Judge of His Majesty's 
Superior Court of Jurisdiction, and 
first member of His Majesty's Coun- 
cil of the Province. He lived in 
Dover, X. H., and lixeter, where he 
died on March 21, 17 15, aged eighty- 
five years. 

From Tristram and Peter are de- 
scended all of the name of Coffin 
along the Merrimack valley. 

Joshua Coffin, great grandson of 
Nathaniel, born October 12, 1792, on 
the old homestead, died June 24, 
1864. Was a graduate of Dart- 
mouth college and a noted school- 
master. Was town clerk of New- 



bury for seven years, and justice of 
the peace for the county of Essex. 
In the old mansion where he was 
born and died he collected the mate- 
rial for and prepared his History of 
Newbury, published in 1845. 

The " Ouaker Poet," "Vvnittier, 
was one of his pupils and friends, 
and refers to him in the lin?s ad- 
dressed "To my old Schoolmaster." 

I, — the man of middle j-ears, 
111 whose salile locks appears 
Manj- a warning fleck of gray, — 
Looking hack to that far day, 
And the primal lessons, feel 
Grateful smiles my lips unseal, 
As, remembering thee, I blend 
Olden teacher, present friend. 
Wise with antiquarian search 
In the scrolls of .State and Church ; 
Named on history's title-page 
I'arish clerk, and justice sage ; 
For the ferule's wholesome awe 
Wielding now the sword of law. 

Tradition asserts, so says Currier 
in his hi.story of " Ould Newbury," 



P 

Author. 
(Person). 

23Ja '03 



"^REV. ENOCH CO E FIN. 



"that the centennial anniversar}^ of 
the settlement of the town was cele- 
brated in the front yard of the ' old 
Coffin house,' beneath the shade 
of a lofty elm, remarkable for its 
great size and graceful shape. This 
noble elm, with its widely extended 
branches, was one of the prominent 
landmarks for miles around; it served 
as a guide for vessels entering or 
leaving the harbor." This monarch 
of trees was struck by lightning 
several times and finally cut down 
about 1S85. This ancient and mag- 
nificent tree reminds us of the "old 
Coffin elm," at the North End, Con- 
cord, N. H., perhaps a scion of the 
Newbury elm, set out by Captain 
Enoch Coffin, a branch of this great 
family, in 1782, also known as the 
"Webster elm," as it was planted 
the year of Daniel Webster's birth. 
This stands to-day on the former 
Coffin homestead, a grand and ma- 
jestic tree outlined against the sky in 
form of strength and beauty. Two 



large elms now stand on the Coffin 
homestead in Newbury, planted by 
Joseph Coffin, one in 1792, when his 
son Jo.>5hua, the historian, was born, 
the other in 1794, when his son 
Thomas was born. 

Rtv Enoch Coffin, whom we will 
now more fully consider, was born in 
the old, big Coffin house which still 
stands in Newbury, erected upwards 
of two hundred and fifty years ago. 
A fine picture of this ancient man- 
sion here appears, taken from Cur- 
rier's " Ould Newbury." Enoch 
was evidently not of a robust con- 
stitution, for we learn that he re- 
ceived a call to settle in Dunstable 
as a successor of Rev. Thomas Weld, 
but was obliged to decline in conse- 
quence of ill health. Feeling, per- 
haps, the need of an invigorating 
expedition into the forests, and find- 
ing a new home among New Hamp- 
shire's health-giving hills, he ar- 
ranged to leave Newbury. We see 
by the records of the proprietors of 




"The Old C^Kin House," Newbury, Mass. 
From History o/'UJ/iiJ Xow/t/iry," l<y /'friiiissioti of tkr Atitho 



REW ENOCH COEEIN. 



Ptiiny Cook, that ou the 17th of 
January, 1726, the ''Great and 
General Court" of the Province of 
Massachusetts Bay, decided to set 
apart " Penny- Cook Plantation " as a 
township, in answer to a petition of 
the previous June. On the second of 
February following-, the comnnitee 
of the general couit met at the house 
of Kbenezer I^astnian, in Haverhill, 
for the purpose of admitting settlers 
to the township of Penny Cook. In 
this they proceeded with great cau- 
tion " iu order to the admitting of 
such as shall be thought most suit- 
able." After much inquiry and 
examination the requisite number of 
one hundred was obtained. Here 
in this careful selection of the first 
aettkrs of Concord, men of worth 
and high character, we see was laid 
the foundation of a strong, upright, 
moral communil}-. Among the early 
applicants and who was accepted, 
was the Rev. I^noch Cof^n, then a 
young preacher of Newbury. On 
the seventh of February the com- 
iiiitiee of the court voted "to appoint 
survt-yors, and chainmen to attend 
them when they should go to allot 
the said tract of land into one hun- 
dred and three shares, according to 
order." Thursday, May twelfth, 
" Early in the morning, the com- 
mittee begun their journey from 
Haverhill, in order for Penny Cook, 
being attended by twenty-six per- 
sons, including the Surveyors, Chain- 
men, and such of the intending 
setikrs as were disposed to take a 
view of the Lands." With these 
went the Rev. Enoch Cofhn, as chap- 
lain of the expedition into the wilder- 
ness. Says Moore in his Annals of 
Concord, 1824, " The settlers of 
Penny Cook, like those of all the 



older towns, strictly observed the 
religious institutions of their fathesr. 
Rev. J^noch Coffin, of Newburj', 
Mass., accompanied them on their 
first visit to their new lands." Late 
ou I'riday afternoon, the party ar- 
rived and " Ivncamped on a piece of 
Intervale Land, or plain, called 
Sugar Piall plain." On Saturday 
they proceeded with their surveys of 
the "township according to the 
General Court's oider." 

"Sabbath day. May 15th. This 
day Mr. luioch Coffin, our Chaplain, 
performed divine vService both parts 
of the day. Fair and Cool." John 
Wainwright, Ivsq , clerk, has most 
graphically related in his journal the 
details of this journe\', which mo.st 
fortunatel}^ has been preserved, and 
from which I have been able to 
(piote. So, as stated above, on the 
Sabbath day, May 15th, 1726, was 
hekl the first religious service in 
Concord, or even in central New 
Hampshire, the Rev. Enoch Coffin, 
preacher. 

To commemorate this i :}iortant 
event, there was erected, on Sugar 
Ball Bluff, over-looking the beautiful 
plain where the first settle li en- 
camped and held their religious ser- 
vice, a neat and substantial granite 
monument. This was dedicated Oc- 
tober 26, 1899, at the fifty-seventh 
annual meeting of the Concord Con- 
gregational Union, at which an ad- 
dress was given by the Hon. Joseph 
B. Walker: John C. Tliorne present- 
ing the report of the work as chair- 
man of the committee of the Union. 

The monument, which is of Con- 
cord granite of fair proportions, as 
seen in the accompanying illustration, 
stands some seven feet in height, and 
is erected in Memorial park, a plot 



A'A/". ENOCH COFFIN. 



of ground comprising about three- 
fourths of- an acre. It beai's this 
inscription : 

On the interval below this spot a com 
mittee of the General Court of Massachusetts 
Baj% their survej-ors and attendants there 
present to locate and survey the Plantation of 
Pennj' Cook, conducted the first religious ser- 
vice ever held in the central part of New 
Hampshire, on Sunday, May 15, 1726. Rev. 
Enoch Coffin, Preacher.' 



the one httndretl ami three intending 
settlers, was that of Ivnoch Coffin. 
He drew No. 36 "House Lot," of 
one and one half acres, located at the 
extreme south end of the Main street; 
also No. 26 the "Home Lot," of 
about seven acres on the interval, in 
tiie section designated as the " Great 
Plain." There is no doubt that the 




Wlorument on Sugar Bali Bluff, Concord, N, H. 
Fri'iii the '^Coiigrcgationalist" Boston, l>y f>i-ymissioii. 



On the obverse it is inscribed : 

Krected by the Congregational .Societies of 
Concord, October, iSgg. 

At the meeting of the committee 
at Audover, Mass., February 7th 
and 8th, 1726, for the drawing of 
lots for the land at Penny Cook, we 
find that the first name on the list of 



'The last Hue, ''Rev. ]^noch Coffin. Preacher," 
has been cut upon the nioiunueut. in justice to the 
facts, since the photoi^raph was taken for the above 
half-tone illustration. 



Reverend Mr. Coffin located in the 
town, being one of the original pro- 
prietors, and that he was employed 
to minister to the .settlers. He 
preached more or less to the people 
for some two years, for, consulting 
the records again, we read " That at 
a meeting of the proprietors held at 
Bradford, Mass., March 12, 1729, it 
was voted : That the sum of four 
pounds be allowed and paid unto the 
heirs of the Reverend Knoch Coffru, 



REV. ENOCH COEEIN. 



deceased, for his jjrcaching and per- 
forming divine service at Penny 
Cook, in full discharge." He was 
not Concord's first minister, but was 
its first preacher. The Rev. Timo- 
th}- Walker was settled as the first 
regular minister of the town Novem- 
ber 1 8, 1730. 

That Mr. Coffin well and faithfully 
performed the duties of his higli 



ofiice there is no (juestion. lie was. 
however, obliged to lay down his 
work, after a short service for his 
Master, at the early age of thirty- two 
years, and passed on to his reward. 
We cherish his memory as one of the 
religious pioneers of his time, and 
Concord owes him honor and rever- 
ence for his faith and works within 
her borders. 




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